Rise of the Champions

by Nicholas Joslin

  Part of his anxiety came from the fact that nobody, including his master, knew how magic exactly worked. They could use it, for it was abundant in the world and it flowed around them like water surrounding a stone in a river. But beyond that, its origins and many secrets remained a mystery. It also didn’t help that only the Ancient Clan studied magic.

  “Cursed, useless tomes! Not even one of the texts say anything of what I just saw,” Seer Mordou yelled before giving up his fruitless effort.

  “Master, if I may be so bold, what did you see?” Valon asked, unable to sit idly by any longer.

  Almost surprised at Valon speaking up, Seer Mordou’s brow ruffled. He sat across the table from his apprentice, nervously scratching at his chin, still perturbed by what he had seen.

  “Valon, my apprentice, I’ve seen what may be the demise of our realm. You of course remember how I sensed a great disturbance in magic energy from the east, yes?” Seer Mordou asked, staring at Valon.

  “Of course, Master. We all sensed that day, that brief explosive tear in the fabric of magic. Since then, the magic essence from there still flows as though it is ongoing. Did you see what caused it?” Valon asked, leaning forward with curiosity.

  “Perhaps, perhaps not. But I saw what exists there now. There is something strange. It is a gateway, a portal, some sort of connection to another realm. But that oddity is not what I fear, no, it is only the method of transportation for the foul creature. I cannot describe it because I do not know the proper words,” Seer Mordou explained, his narrowed eyes showing confusion and possibly fear.

  “Creature? A creature of magic?” Valon questioned, eyes wide.

  “Of magic, using magic—regardless, it is powerful. You saw what it did to our dear brother Francis. It corrupts, controls, and only grows in strength. I saw the portal; it shimmers in clearing with dozens of strange aberrations making their way through. Not only that, but festering tendrils have forced them through and defile the land around the portal. This is far worse than what I originally thought. They appear like a cruel … living infection, of sorts. We need to act, or we may lose everything,” Seer Mordou declared.

  As his master explained his vision, Valon leaned back in his chair, chills running down his back. The emotion and descriptive language painted a grim picture in his mind. He had never heard or read anything about this kind of creature before, but it sounded dire. This was the first time in his life he had seen his master this worried.

  “That is terrible. What can we do?” Valon replied.

  “That is a good question for which I wish I had an answer,” Seer Mordou replied, shaking his head.

  “Master, I’m sure you will think of something, you always do,” Valon urged.

  Valon watched as his master smiled briefly before placing his head in his hands, staring down at the knotted wooden table beneath him. It was no wonder his master didn’t want the other mages here to see him so distraught. He was always confident and knew exactly what to do. Something had changed, and Valon figured it was from his farsight connection.

  “I know it’s a stretch, but could you perhaps try to see our future? I know that many paths may exist, but perhaps we could find something, some hint as to how we defeat it?” Valon asked, knowing his question was based on theory more than knowledge.

  “For me to see the future is difficult enough. But there’s no telling if I will be able to see what we need. I don’t know,” Seer Mordou muttered.

  Valon sighed, knowing he alone could not solve their problem. No one person could, by the sound of it. Something seemed off with his master, however. He had never been so hesitant to use his farsight, not like this. It seemed whatever he had seen truly scared him.

  “Master, please forgive my insolence. But you seem afraid to use your farsight. Did something else happen?” Valon asked slowly.

  He watched as Seer Mordou struggled with something in his own mind. Something seemed to have left a mental wound within him, and his eyes looked almost lost. Valon felt badly for pushing, but knew this was not the time for indecision.

  “Valon, my keen apprentice … you are right…” Seer Mordou began, shaking his head and focusing himself. “Whatever this being is … it tried to overtake me. If you had not snapped me out of it, what happened to Francis could have happened to me. I feel partially responsible for his death, however we all know the consequences that may result from delving into magic. I cannot stop thinking about the whispering I heard.”

  “I heard the whispering too. It was … concerning, to say the least,” Valon said with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

  Seer Mordou let loose a brief chuckle and shook his head. He appeared slightly more confident than he had moments ago. Valon only wished to see his master snap out of whatever mood he was in. Right now, the Ancient Clan needed a leader.

  “I believe you are right then, Valon. Our best course of action would be to gather the rest of the clan for me to use my farsight. Perhaps we can see what the future holds and work backwards from there. I only hope I know what to look for,” Seer Mordou conceded.

  “Or who to look for,” Valon added as he lifted an eyebrow.

  Before anyone could speak, someone knocked at the front of the tower door. Seer Mordou yelled for them to enter, and Valon stood to see who it was. As expected, it was the rest of the mages from the ritual carrying the remains of the beast that had once been their fellow clansperson, Francis.

  “Seer Mordou, we gathered what we could, but it’s rather messy,” the mage leading the group explained, dry heaving as he spoke.

  “That’s fine, please bring it to the cellar,” Seer Mordou ordered, standing from his chair.

  “What now, Master?” Valon asked.

  “Now, apprentice, we examine the remains of this abomination closely,” Seer Mordou replied, following the other mages to the cellar.

  Valon nodded, already feeling sick from the strange odor. As he followed them towards the cellar, the scent of death began to fill the tower. While Valon wasn’t looking forward to having to dig through the oozing remains of the corpse, he knew it may yield answers. He took a deep breath and entered through the cellar door, ready for whatever came next.

  Chapter 5

  Anna could feel herself gritting her teeth as she walked through the once silent forest. Behind her was the cause of her annoyance. Twenty Narsho warriors and their Champion chanted an old marching song as they followed her, singing loud and proud. She had already explained that it would be wise to stay quiet in case the creatures or Highrock Clan were near, but her suggestion had fallen on deaf ears. Instead, the men chose to continue singing with everything they had.

  Worst of all was Titus’s attitude, who constantly had been delivering small jabs at her anytime she tried to speak. He tried to come off as playful, but Anna knew better. She had briefly wondered if it was because she was a woman, but seeing their Champion act that way to plenty of men too had helped her find the true answer. Titus Fardson, Champion of the Narsho Clan was just extremely arrogant.

  As she continued walking, Anna adjusted the metal armor she now wore. Typically, she wouldn’t wear such armor as a scout, but they could very well end up in combat. Now, she wore chainmail armor on her entire torso and even had a metal plate covering each of her thighs. That wasn’t the only change in her loadout either. Since her sword had been lost, she had been given a replacement one by their blacksmith, Thorvad. It was a little heavier and slightly longer, but she was still confident in her ability to use it. Not only that, but she also chose to take a reinforced wooden buckler shield as well. While it wouldn’t help as much as a large shield in combat with a human, she figured the maneuverability of the shield would do well against the weaponless creatures. She had also gotten a replacement bow and quiver full of razor-sharp arrows.

  In return for his quick work, Chieftain Barod had given Thorvad the well-crafted hammer Anna had found in the ruins. He had been shocked to see such quality, and was immediately impressed
by its power and elegance. He swore that in return, he would make the finest weapons and armor the clan had ever seen. Anna hoped he was right, as they would likely soon need it.

  Most of her fellow clansmen behind her had similar armor and weaponry, except for Titus. He had a specially forged set of full plate metal armor, a beautifully made two-handed greatsword, a much smaller sheathed shortsword, and even a Narsho green colored cloak trailing behind him. Anna did recognize that Titus was an incredible warrior and had cut down many Highrock warriors over his twenty years of fighting. She only hoped his combat skill translated from humans to walking horrors.

  As they continued, she noticed Titus had suddenly begun walking next to her, no longer singing. She didn’t know what to say and waited for him to speak. As she thought, it didn’t take long for him to start talking.

  “So, what do we call them anyway?” Titus asked, his voice coated in confidence.

  “Call what?” Anna asked in return.

  “Those things you fought. I’ve heard you refer to them as probably a dozen other names. What should we call these foul spawns? By your description, they sound as though they’ve crawled out of the Dark Depths of Folm itself,” Titus explained.

  “Oh, hm. I don’t know,” Anna briefly answer, not wanting to think about the enemy they’d soon face.

  “Based on how you’ve explained them, I think horror fits quite well,” Titus reasoned, almost talking to himself more than Anna.

  “Then Horror it is,” Anna affirmed with disinterest.

  She watched as Titus turned to the men behind him, walking backwards. He raised his arms around his mouth and took a breath.

  “Men! Are you ready to slay these Horrors that dare invade our realm?” Titus yelled loudly.

  Anna listened as the men cheered, their morale high. She only hoped they wouldn’t waver when they encountered the Horrors. None of them had ever fought such a foe, and unlike the Highrock warriors, this foe did not seem to slow until you inflicted a near-killing blow. In fact, Anna still had to explain what she had learned to everyone. However, she had already planned on going over everything tonight as they camped, for she knew that by this time tomorrow, they would be at the ruins where Fredrik fell.

  She stared around at the large trees around them. She recognized some of the sights, and knew they were in the Cursed Lands. She still wondered how the land got its name. From what she could tell, not even the chieftain knew why it was named such. Her only guess was the name may have originated from whatever had left the abandoned town in the ruins it now was. While she had at first thought it was the Horrors that overtook the town, something told her they weren’t the cause.

  Suddenly, she saw some sort of animal moving ahead. She held up her hand to signal spotting something, but lurched forward as Titus ran into her, not paying attention from walking backwards. She barely steadied herself from falling, shooting the Champion an annoyed look.

  “Why are you stopping?” Titus asked loudly.

  “Sh!” Anna briefly replied, turning to see what was ahead.

  Unfortunately, the animal heard them. It stood straight on its two legs and put its long, feathered nose to the air to smell. Anna could instantly tell they had stumbled upon a forest raptor, a nasty birdlike predator capable of tearing apart even the most trained warriors. She only hoped it was an older male, as they were the only ones who often walked without their pack.

  “What is that?” Titus said slightly quieter, trying to block the sun from his eyes.

  Anna could hear the men whispering behind her, some louder than others. She quickly turned to quiet them, briefly explaining that a forest raptor was ahead. Unfortunately, by the time she turned back around, it was gone.

  “Titus, where did it go?” Anna asked, laying down her sword and taking her bow from around her.

  “I don’t know, it put its head back down and disappeared into the vegetation,” Titus answered, not seeming too worried.

  Anna’s heart sank as she heard his reply. That could only mean the raptor had caught their scent and was preparing to attack. Even a single raptor would go after a group of humans, trying to grab whatever it could. It was that scavenger ferocity that made them so tough, that and their sharp teeth and claws.

  “Keep an eye out; it’s stalking us!” Anna shouted to the rest of the warriors.

  “Stalking? That doesn’t sound good,” Titus said to himself.

  Anna watched closely for any sign of the raptor from within the many ferns, bushes, and other flora on the forest ground. She had an arrow at the ready, knowing the raptor would have to be dealt with quickly. She continued scanning her surroundings, finally seeing the rustle of a group of ferns from behind them. At least this confirmed the raptor was alone.

  “There!” Anna shouted, pointing to the ferns.

  Unluckily, her warning was just a moment too late. The raptor leapt from the ferns at the closest warrior, who only gawked as the beast charged him. The raptor lunged forward with a primal slash, its talons ripping through the arm of the warrior as he tried to defend himself. While Anna’s warning came too late, her arrow did not.

  Just as the raptor went to grab at the warrior with its beaked mouth, it was struck by one of Anna’s arrows in the shoulder. It flinched, taking a few steps back. Anna nocked another arrow, ready to deliver a killing shot. However, Titus had already run towards the creature.

  “Foul beast!” Titus yelled, running forward and holding his sword high above his head.

  The raptor ran at Titus, falling for his taunt. Anna watched in anticipation as the two closed in. The raptor lunged forward, trying to slash Titus with its claws as it had with the other warrior. However, Titus had apparently anticipated this move.

  Titus dodged left, and as he did, he shifted his sword from over his head and used the weight of it to swing back around, delivering a fast yet powerful strike at the raptor. The blow struck clean through the neck of the beast, causing its head to topple down on the forest floor.

  “Aha! Looks like we’re eating well tonight!” Titus cheered as he held the decapitated head of the raptor high into the air.

  Seeing that their threat had been neutralized, Anna ran to the wounded warrior, taking some wraps and other medicinal things their shaman had given her out of her bag. She had to push her way through the other warriors who had crowded around their comrade. When she finally got to the wounded man, she was glad to see the laceration wasn’t terrible.

  The slash hadn’t done much damage, but an open wound was the last thing they wanted in a situation like this. Anna had to think for a moment to remember the older man’s name, having never talked to him directly.

  “Bernol, is it only your arm?” Anna asked, now noticing Titus was bending down to take a look.

  “It is, and it hurts,” Bernol replied, cringing at the sight of his bleeding arm.

  “Ah, a simple flesh wound. Be glad it did not tear muscle or bone, or else you’d really be in bad sorts,” Titus said loudly, patting the man on the shoulder.

  Anna watched as the man squirmed from Titus’s heavy pat as she began to bandage him. All things considered, it could’ve been much worse. Had she not struck the raptor with her arrow the beast could have dragged him away. If that had happened, the man may be dead right now.

  It didn’t take long for her to bandage up the warrior, and Anna helped the man stand. He was covered in his own blood, which didn’t seem comfortable. However, he was lucky to be alive. She just wished she had been able to shoot the raptor before it had the chance to strike.

  “We shall press on now, yes?” Titus asked, looking at everyone around him. “A couple of you find a way to drag that raptor along so we may cook it later.”

  They all agreed, still in fine morale. However, Anna did notice they were slightly less enthusiastic than they had been only minutes earlier. It did make sense though, as raptors were very uncommon to find. She figured most hadn’t even seen such a beast in person before. She was only happy it hadn�
��t been a whole pack.

  “I suppose so. There is a certain spot where I’d like us to make camp for the night,” Anna replied to Titus.

  Titus nodded and looked to Anna to follow. She led on through the forest, Titus walking beside her. Again, she could tell the man wanted to say something. She waited for him to speak.

  “That was a fine shot with your bow. You’re quite quick,” Titus slowly complimented with a small smile.

  Anna was shocked at his words, not expecting anything kind to come from the Champion’s mouth. She continued walking, not wanting to make a big deal out of it.

  “Thank you. I had good mentors,” Anna responded, realizing she should at least return the compliment. “You are quite skilled with that sword; the raptor didn’t even touch you.”

  “Ah, thank you. I pride myself in swordsmanship. Though fighting a beast is different from fighting a human; the movement, the awareness, it’s an entirely different battle. Fortunately, that is not the first raptor I’ve slain. In fact, someday I hope to slay one of every beast in this land with my sword,” Titus rambled, oozing with pride. “It will be a glorious accomplishment.”

  “Is that so?” Anna responded, not particularly interested in Titus’s story.

  “It is! However, I wonder if we do not even know of all the beasts in our realm. Forthoton is a large place. At least I’ll be able to cross these Horrors off my list,” Titus replied.

  “Since you recognize that fighting beasts and humans are different, you should know the Horrors fight more like beasts. They have some sort of primal rage about them. However, as a group they seemed to communicate,” Anna described.

  “Good to know. But what do you mean they communicated? Did they speak?” Titus asked with great curiosity.

  “No. Well, nothing besides beastly roars and angry bellowing. But that didn’t seem to communicate anything. Anyway, I plan on telling everyone this over the fire tonight as we camp, for come tomorrow, we will be in combat,” Anna explained.